Top Snacks to eat in Cheng Huang Miao Shanghai 上海城隍庙

Cheng Huang Miao is one of the must-visit places in Shanghai, also known as the City God Shrine in English. This part of the city has many old buildings and most over a hundred years old. Hundred of stores line the street and this is a great place to shop and find food.  Let’s find out what are the must eat food in Cheng Huang Miao Shanghai.

1. Deep-Fried Spicy Crab

Plastic gloves were given when you purchased the deep-fried spicy crab so your hands won’t get too messy.  The shell of the crabs is soft so you can also eat them but I find the legs are hard to swallow.  There are some spice sprinkles on top of the crabs but if you can’t take the spice, you can ask them not to sprinkle.  Cost 25 Yuan – SGD 5.00 for one stick which includes 3 pcs of crabs.

2. Walnut Biscuit

You can see how the little machine making these walnut biscuits in front of you.  Smell really good.

3. Giant Crab Meat Tang Bao

The Tang Bao is very big, as big as a baby’s face. The interesting part is you need a straw to suck the soup which contains crab meats and crab juices. Beware the soup can be quite hot, so be careful when you suck it. After you have finished sucking the soup, go eat the pork meat inside.  It is best if you can pour some vinegar on top and eat with it.

How cool is that to suck it with a straw?

4. Shanghai Xiao Long Pao

Xiaolongbao is another must-eat in Shanghai. It is Chinese steamed pork bun put in a small bamboo steaming basket. There is soup inside the xiao long bao so please be extra careful, do not put the whole thing into your mouth, bite a small hole and let the hot steam comes out, then let it cool down a little and put the whole thing inside. And don’t forget to dip with the black vinegar.

5. Douhua or Soft Tofu 豆花

Shanghai Douhua is tofu pudding, they eat it salty version, unlike here in Singapore, we eat it sweet version. Kelp, seaweed, and shrimps are used and a sauce of chili oil, coriander, vinegar and soy sauce are generally added.

6. Chicken Wing stuffed with sticky rice

I love how there are sticky rice stuffed inside the chicken wings and it goes well together.  Tasted a bit of sweet side and which is what I love.

7. Fried Thin Pancake

I love the thin version as it is quite crunchy but can be a little oily.  This is one of the popular breakfast street food in Shanghai and many other cities in China.

8. Stinky Tofu /臭豆腐

Stinky tofu is fried and the aroma is stink but tasted ok when you dip it with different kinds of sauces. There are sweet sauce, hot sauce, and many other choices to choose from.  You can see there is a mixture of black and white tofu here.

9. Chinese Liquor

Baijiu also was known as sorghum liquor and has a wide flavor range such as rose, peach and many more. Go try them out from these fancy traditional ceramic containers, it is free to try them and if you like the particular flavor, you can purchase base on how many pounds (not in kg) you need.

10. Yogurt drink 酸奶

Yogurt drink in China tastes different from ours in Singapore. The serving is in the traditional ceramic containers and you can put the bottle in the recycle bin after you had finished drinking. The yogurt drink is very thick, similar to a milkshake but you are still able to drink it with a straw.

11. BinTanghulu/冰糖葫芦

This is a very popular snack in China and you can see it in most of the Chinese period drama. Bintanghulu is also called Tanghulu, traditionally with mountain hawthorn or “shanzha” 山楂 coated in sugar but now there are different fruits used and my favorite is strawberry coated with sugar.

12. Tangyuan (汤圆) glutinous rice balls

This is a dessert glutinous rice balls and stuffed with sweet black sesame paste. You also find other fillings but black sesame paste never goes wrong.  The soup was not sweet at all.

Stuffed with sweet black sesame filling.

13. Hot Mochi

The mochi is freshly made in front of you so these were still hot when we ordered.  There are two types of filling, the pork floss with salted egg (tasted salty) and red bean (tasted sweet).  Highly recommended.

14. Traditional Shanghai Pastries

The pastries come in all shapes, colors, sizes, and tastes. It is hard to decide which one to order. The fillings of Chinese pastries are thicker and denser while Western pastries often incorporate more cream-like fillings. Some of the common fillings are the red bean paste and yam. I have ordered some and tasted super good. Price is about SGD 1.00 to 2.00 + each.  You can ask them to arrange nicely in a box for you to bring home for your loved one.

Final thoughts:

Finding street snacks in Shanghai Cheng Huang Miao is one of the fun things to do. You can find most Shanghai favorites here at affordable prices.

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